Police rescue New York man, held captive for a month in warehouse

May 23, 2013|Reuters

By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - Police rescued a businessmanfrom a New York City warehouse where he had been held captivefor a month by kidnappers who demanded a $3 million ransom fromhis family in Ecuador, authorities said.

Acting on a tip from the victim's mother, police found PedroPortugal, 52, in the warehouse with his hands bound in cloth andduct tape. He had been abducted in the borough of Queens onApril 18 by a man who approached him, flashing what looked likea police badge, prosecutors said.

The man and an accomplice grabbed Portugal and forced himinto a vehicle, said prosecutors, who charged three men with thekidnapping late on Wednesday.

The men pulled a mask over Portugal's face, punched him,held a knife to his belly and warned him to stay quiet,prosecutors said.

Portugal was taken to a warehouse, where, over the course ofa month, he was hooded, tied up and beaten, authorities said.The men burned his hands with acid, punched out some of histeeth, threatened to chop off his fingers and kill him.

"This is a terrifying story," Richard Brown, the Queensdistrict attorney, said in a statement.

Christian Acuna, 35, Dennis Alves, 32, and Eduardo Moncayo,38, were arraigned on charges of kidnapping and unlawfulimprisonment on Wednesday and were being held without bail.

A lawyer who represented Alves at his arraignment said Alvesplanned to plead not guilty. Lawyers for the other twodefendants could not be reached on Thursday.

Police said other men involved in the kidnapping have notyet been found, including a man the defendants say had hiredthem to do the kidnapping.

Alves told police he had been promised $5,000 to kidnap andguard Portugal during the day, along with Acuna, who told policehe was getting $800 per week for the job, according to thecriminal complaint.

All three defendants were in the room, along with a fourthman, when Portugal first rang his family in Ecuador to ask forthe $3 million ransom, the complaint said. Portugal's motherthen called the police.

Police tracked Portugal's location to a warehouse in LongIsland City in Queens. On Monday, a team of officers posing asbuilding inspectors went inside and found Portugal on the thirdfloor with his hands bound while Acuna attempted to flee, policesaid.